ABSTRACT
Countless books have been published on the medicinal plants of indigenous groups and regions of the world, and virtually every issue of any scientific journal dealing with economic botany or ethnobotany includes at least one contribution on the subject. In general, these books and papers make no reference to the issue of intellectual property rights, nor do they include any mention or discussion of how the recording or publication of the information might be beneficial or detrimental to the people who supplied it. There are, of course, exceptions to this; but the fact remains that most ethnobotanists or ethnopharmacologists, though willing to pay lip service to the issues of intellectual property rights in theoretical discussion, will tend to ignore them entirely when it comes to the publication of their work. There are various reasons for this. Firstly, scientists tend to dissociate themselves from the implications of their research. Secondly, scientists have the ability to convince themselves that publication in the academic forum is separate from the world of commerce. Thirdly, most scientists are under very considerable pressure to publish as much as possible as soon as possible.
